Jordan Mims rushed for 205 yards and two touchdowns and Jake Haener threw for two touchdowns in Fresno State’s 29-6 domination of Washington State in the LA Bowl on Saturday in Los Angeles.
It put a glamorous finishing touch on the season for Fresno State (10-4), which won its final nine games.
Mims needed just 18 carries to amass his rushing total, compiling all except 12 yards of Fresno State’s rushing total.
Haener completed 24 of 36 passes for 284 yards.
Washington State quarterback Cameron Ward was 22-for-32 for 137 yards and an interception. The Cougars were limited to 45 rushing yards.
It was the first meeting between the teams since 1994, and the Bulldogs, who were coming off a Mountain West Conference championship, were much more in tune.
The Cougars (7-6) ended their first full season under coach Jake Dickert with back-to-back losses following a three-game winning streak.
Washington State didn’t score until Nakia Watson’s 1-yard run with 3:40 left in the third quarter. A two-point conversion play failed, leaving the score at 16-6.
Fresno State answered in the ensuing possession, going 75 yards in six plays to score on Haener’s 11-yard pass play to Nikko Remigio.
Mims tacked on a 2-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter.
Remigio ended up with a team-high 84 receiving yards.
Fresno State led 16-0 at halftime and the statistics might have suggested a larger lead.
In the first half, the Bulldogs outgained Washington State 289-59 and held a 17-5 edge in first downs.
Fresno State scored on the game’s first possession when Haener threw 22 yards to Zane Pope to complete a 75-yard march that took slightly more than three minutes.
After Washington failed to convert on a fourth-and-1 from its own 23-yard line, the Bulldogs stretched the lead in the second quarter. Mims ran 3 yards for a touchdown.
Less than two minutes later, Leonard Payne Jr. sacked Ward for a safety.
–Field Level Media